Running an app as admin - what does it do?

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  1. Posts : 107
    Windows7 64
       #1

    Running an app as admin - what does it do?


    Hi there :)

    If you run an app as admin, what is happening exactly? I searched around a bit, but all I could really find was how to run as admin. I did find this:

    Some applications won’t run on Windows Vista because they were designed for earlier versions of Windows. Most of the time, the problem is caused by UAC.

    Well, I am asking b/c an app that was having some issues (myself and several others) seems to be ok when the .exe is set to 'run as admin'. I can go into details if need be, but basically, this app was designed for Vista/W7 (or so the dev says), and UAC is off.

    Basically looking to find out what is going on with the app, and why it might now be ok.

    Thanks!
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  2. Posts : 1,618
    Win7 Home Premium x64 W10Pro&Home
       #2

    Running UAC on the lowest setting is better than turning it off, some functions will not work, such as desktop gadgets sometimes will not display correctly with UAC turned completely off. Setting an app to run as admin in the properties only has to be set one time and usually works without any hitches. Some older apps may need to be set to run in compatibility mode also in the right clik properties....
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  3. Posts : 107
    Windows7 64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for the reply.

    "Running UAC on the lowest setting is better than turning it off, "

    Don't necessarily agree with that; I guess it depends on what you are looking to do. I could care less about deskop gadgets and things of that nature - they are completely useless to me.

    "Setting an app to run as admin in the properties only has to be set one time and usually works without any hitches"

    Yes, I am aware of that - that's what I have done, hence why I am able to run the app as admin.

    Can someone kindly enlighten me as to what running an app as admin actually does?

    Thank you.
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  4. Posts : 997
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
       #4

    jasong1968 said:
    Thanks for the reply.

    "Running UAC on the lowest setting is better than turning it off, "

    Don't necessarily agree with that; I guess it depends on what you are looking to do. I could care less about deskop gadgets and things of that nature - they are completely useless to me.

    "Setting an app to run as admin in the properties only has to be set one time and usually works without any hitches"

    Yes, I am aware of that - that's what I have done, hence why I am able to run the app as admin.

    Can someone kindly enlighten me as to what running an app as admin actually does?

    Thank you.
    It does one thing and one thing only......
    It bypasses the necessity of giving permission or entering admin password before it can run.
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  5. Posts : 107
    Windows7 64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Ok, thanks for the info.

    Here's the thing. The app is Cubase by Steinberg. It is a 64-bit app in W7 64-bit. I am one of many people who have this problem of the app hanging upon exit. There is a thread on the Cubase forum about this; there are over 200 posts and literally dozens of people who see this regularly - Cubase v5, v6, different versions of W7 64-bit (home, prem, etc), different sound cards, vid cards, amounts/tyopes of RAM, CPUs, PSUs, MBs, etc. It appears to be a global issue regardless of the setup and peripherals. What happens is this: there is a project open, you try to shut doen the app, and the project itslef closes, but the app is still running. It is unresponsive; none of the menus are clickable, the X (close) in the top right are not accessible, you cant grab the border of the app and move it....you can end task, but all that happens is the GUI disappears; there are still threads running as the app is still listed in the TM. Eventually the app completely shuts down, but that can take upwards of 20 min. And you can not shut down/restart the computer while the threads are still running; the OS will just hang with "shutting down" (or whatever that screen says). Myself and many others have noticed that if the app is run as admin, the app always shuts down appropriately, and there is no more hanging issue.

    So, I was wondering why running as admin might solve this issue. Any deas?

    Thanks :)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 997
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
       #6

    jasong1968 said:
    Ok, thanks for the info.

    Here's the thing. The app is Cubase by Steinberg. It is a 64-bit app in W7 64-bit. I am one of many people who have this problem of the app hanging upon exit. There is a thread on the Cubase forum about this; there are over 200 posts and literally dozens of people who see this regularly - Cubase v5, v6, different versions of W7 64-bit (home, prem, etc), different sound cards, vid cards, amounts/tyopes of RAM, CPUs, PSUs, MBs, etc. It appears to be a global issue regardless of the setup and peripherals. What happens is this: there is a project open, you try to shut doen the app, and the project itslef closes, but the app is still running. It is unresponsive; none of the menus are clickable, the X (close) in the top right are not accessible, you cant grab the border of the app and move it....you can end task, but all that happens is the GUI disappears; there are still threads running as the app is still listed in the TM. Eventually the app completely shuts down, but that can take upwards of 20 min. And you can not shut down/restart the computer while the threads are still running; the OS will just hang with "shutting down" (or whatever that screen says). Myself and many others have noticed that if the app is run as admin, the app always shuts down appropriately, and there is no more hanging issue.

    So, I was wondering why running as admin might solve this issue. Any deas?

    Thanks :)
    Assuming you were replying to me......

    No, I don't have any idea why it has to be Run As Admin in order to behave correctly.
    If Cubase forum is scratching the cllective head, I doubt answer will be forthcoming soon.
    Sorry.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 107
    Windows7 64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    No need to be sorry - thanks for the response.

    Well, there has to be something going on under the hood - no?
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  8. Posts : 908
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
       #8

    jasong1968 said:
    Ok, thanks for the info.

    Here's the thing. The app is Cubase by Steinberg. It is a 64-bit app in W7 64-bit. I am one of many people who have this problem of the app hanging upon exit. There is a thread on the Cubase forum about this; there are over 200 posts and literally dozens of people who see this regularly - Cubase v5, v6, different versions of W7 64-bit (home, prem, etc), different sound cards, vid cards, amounts/tyopes of RAM, CPUs, PSUs, MBs, etc. It appears to be a global issue regardless of the setup and peripherals. What happens is this: there is a project open, you try to shut doen the app, and the project itslef closes, but the app is still running. It is unresponsive; none of the menus are clickable, the X (close) in the top right are not accessible, you cant grab the border of the app and move it....you can end task, but all that happens is the GUI disappears; there are still threads running as the app is still listed in the TM. Eventually the app completely shuts down, but that can take upwards of 20 min. And you can not shut down/restart the computer while the threads are still running; the OS will just hang with "shutting down" (or whatever that screen says). Myself and many others have noticed that if the app is run as admin, the app always shuts down appropriately, and there is no more hanging issue.

    So, I was wondering why running as admin might solve this issue. Any deas?

    Thanks :)
    Hello!

    I know some people who *might* be willing to help. Can you please link me to this Cubase thread? How willing are the developers to get involved? How familiar are you with Process Monitor and Process Explorer, or not at all? We can provide simple instructions, and then we could disseminate the produced log files at our leisure.

    Thanks a lot!

    Richard
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 31,242
    Windows 11 Pro x64 [Latest Release and Release Preview]
       #9

    The main reason for programs not working correctly under UAC is bad and lazy programming techniques used by the application developers.

    It is easier for the developers to program to run as admin and to place user files in a protected area, (INI files in the program folder ).

    It has been correct programming practice since the 1980s to program windows applications to run as a standard user and to store user files in the user area. The problem is that so many home users running XP ran as full administrator by default , that the application developers assume that this will always be the case.

    There is no reason for most applications to run as administrator unless they are system applications that require access to system files.

    The normal user in modern systems runs as a standard user, (Windows and Unix/Linux), running as administrator raises the abilities of the user to enable access to system files, (and also raises the danger of accidental or malicious damage).

    The only cure for this type of issue is for the developers of these incorrectly coded applications to re-program the application correctly
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 107
    Windows7 64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    niemiro said:
    Can you please link me to this Cubase thread?
    The Cubase forum is open only to users that have entered their product info. Besides, there really isn't any info in that thread that I have not already outlined here.

    niemiro said:
    How willing are the developers to get involved?
    They wouldn't be.

    Not at all familiar with Process Monitor and Process Explorer. What do they do?

    Barman58 said:
    The main reason for programs not working correctly under UAC is bad and lazy programming techniques used by the application developers.
    So, this applies even if UAC is turned off?
      My Computer


 
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